Is there a plug-in for removing "clicks"?

[Jackie Treehorn]

Hi, Everybody. Did a couple of searches and couldn't find a similar thread.

I recently spent a week tracking in a professional studio, and now I'm back home editing and doing electric guitar overdubs. I have an organ (B3) track where the leslie cabinet was recorded with two 4038's. One of the two mics picked up some extraneous sounds in the room (the organist working the bars/pedal during the take). I didn't notice the problem during tracking.

I had hoped that the unwanted sounds would just get buried in the mix. . . but they occur in a quiet part of the song with no drums and they are quite noticeable.

I really don't want to track it again (it was a $$ pro and it's otherwise a dynamite take), but I can't use it in its current state.

I have an HD1 system. Suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[djbrough]

Waves declicker is a nice one. I'm not sure about any others.

[John Suitcase]

You also might try using a parametric eq to just notch it out as much as possible. I've had surprisingly good luck taking that approach...

[DontLetMeDrown]

Adobe Audition has a great pop-click eliminator. At $349, it is about the same price as a plug-in.

[AlexLakis]

Dunno how helpful de-clickers are gonna be in this case.

If it really bothers you, try mixing down that track during the quiet part, or try other more surgical volume automation.

Or just let it ride! It probably won't bother other people as much as it bothers you.

[sleepwalker]

I'd recommend adobe audition also. If you have a PC around, it's great for surgical work and analysis.

Originally Posted by Jackie Treehorn

Hi, Everybody. Did a couple of searches and couldn't find a similar thread.

I recently spent a week tracking in a professional studio, and now I'm back home editing and doing electric guitar overdubs. I have an organ (B3) track where the leslie cabinet was recorded with two 4038's. One of the two mics picked up some extraneous sounds in the room (the organist working the bars/pedal during the take). I didn't notice the problem during tracking.

I had hoped that the unwanted sounds would just get buried in the mix. . . but they occur in a quiet part of the song with no drums and they are quite noticeable.

I really don't want to track it again (it was a $$ pro and it's otherwise a dynamite take), but I can't use it in its current state.

I have an HD1 system. Suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[yeloocproducer]

This is where SONIC noNoise shines (TDM)... I've seen used ilok auths for around $400-650. Manual De-click is your friend. I edited out the sound of a flute player's fingers hitting a tibetan flute. I'm talking thousands of clicks over a half hour performance (it wasn't my idea, believe me)... and this plug-in just lets you airbrush them away.

It's by hand, but if I had to do that with fades or an automatic plugin, it would never sound right. I use this plug all the time, DIGI really needs to make something that is bundled with protools... it's a very basic need.

[sonnylarsen]

It depends on the length of the click, but I have had good results simply silencing the click and crossfading around it. I do it sometimes if i am editing a track that has random pops and clicks from someone's incorrectly setup recording system. Noises from the performance may be too long, and in that case i might try copying a clip from right before or after the clip and crossfading it into the performance.

[Sirocco]

if you got deep pockets..
http://www.algorithmix.com/en/renovator.htm ..

[Will]

The Waves declicker is ok for digital style clicks I have found, but not too hot on those type of pedal sounds.

I'd go in with the tools in PT and edit them out in that section.

Having said that, I'd probably prefer to leave them in as AlexLakis said - other people probably won't mind them as they are the sound of the actuall instrument.

But if you have to, I'd do it by hand and save some money (tab to transient and a good macro program like Quickeys will be your friend).

Will.

[andreªs]

Originally Posted by yeloocproducer

This is where SONIC noNoise shines (TDM)... I've seen used ilok auths for around $400-650. Manual De-click is your friend. I edited out the sound of a flute player's fingers hitting a tibetan flute. I'm talking thousands of clicks over a half hour performance (it wasn't my idea, believe me)... and this plug-in just lets you airbrush them away.

It's by hand, but if I had to do that with fades or an automatic plugin, it would never sound right. I use this plug all the time, DIGI really needs to make something that is bundled with protools... it's a very basic need.

Second that - Manual De-click is a great tool! We us it all the time. thumbsup

[Thumper]

A de-esser can sometimes work too. Once again, it depends on the sound of the clicking.

Post a sample... Someone might try to get rid of it, and if they do, they can tell you how to do it for a nominal fee!!!

[e-are]

in cubase u can stretch the wave ridiculously and physically get rid of the clicks.
(adjust wave with pencil)
it's a lot of work but it is better than any plug. i'm sure you can do it with pro tools.

[Will]

You can do the same thing in PT with the trimmer tool by clicking and holding the trimmer tool button and selecting the clock.

If your going to do this though I would really recommend using Pitch n Time with the trimmer though as the quality is much better than the standard PT time strecher (you can set the default plug in the preferences).

Will.

[Sticky]

Originally Posted by Will

You can do the same thing in PT with the trimmer tool by clicking and holding the trimmer tool button and selecting the clock.

Just to elaborate a bit: If you're going to use TCE it's probably a good idea to separate the region a little ways before (i.e. don't alter your entire take if you don't have to). Also, if possible, don't alter any region more than once (a.k.a. keep undoing and trying again until you find the length that works).

And of course, if you have deep pockets, Retouch (or one of the other similar plugs) is the way to go.
Hope that helps,
Sticky

[Henchman]

just draw it out.

[Geert van den Berg]

Yes like henchman said... and no need to stretch the audio first, I assume some people above just meant you can zoom in... just waited for someone else to mention this ehe

[George Necola]

just draw it out.

please educate me henchman.. how does that work??

cheers

[Henchman]

Originally Posted by George Necola

please educate me henchman.. how does that work??

cheers

Find the click. Zoom in, and draw it out with the pencil tool.

[Will]

Not sure that that will work too good.

You can draw out digital style clicks that are only a couple of samples, but longer clicks like pedal noises won't draw out as they will probably be tool long.

I'd try a combination of copying/stretching 'good' audio parts over the noises you don't want.

Will.

[Shabo]

Originally Posted by George Necola
please educate me henchman.. how does that work??

cheers

Find the click. Zoom in, and draw it out with the pencil tool.


works great!!! but not all the time!

[bcgood]

Adobe Audition works pretty good for this sort of thing...

bcgood

[kmshroom]

All the above mentioned tips are great ones, and I just wanted to mention that Apple Soundtrack Pro also has some good tools in it for this as well. I wouldn't necessarily buy it just for that though (I happen to already have it coz of the Final Cut Studio bundle, I edit in Final Cut a bit).

[AlexLakis]

Anybody here tried the Cedar stuff? "Retouch" sounds like it would be good for an application like this.

http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?...00&itemid=4793

Redrawing is great, but as was said, it's pretty tough removing noises that are long and buried in there with other source noise.

[minister]

if you cannot draw it out with the pencil tool, then this is the answer:

Originally Posted by yeloocproducer

This is where SONIC noNoise shines (TDM)...

[AB3]

I have also had "mixed" success with Sonic Foundry's Noise Reduction 2.0 (now sony?).

As said before, if it is small - draw it out with the pencil.

And if it is too embedded (long) - depending on the music - sometimes it can be masked if it is in just a few spots. My bell tree was handy for that at one time!

Also, sometimes we get too close to the music. Like looking at a plaster ceiling close up. From far away the plaster looks great - up close a bunch of cracks.
Anyway, does the click really ruin the piece or does it add to the reality of it?

[Jackie Treehorn]

Sincere thanks to all who responded.

I've been at work all weekend (the day job that pays for the studio time!), and haven't had time to try your suggestions yet.

Tonight I listened to the rough mix with fresh ears. . . and I have to admit that maybe I'm over-scrutinizing things. There are really only a couple of spots where most listeners would notice the extraneous sounds. One of the louder "clunks" occurs in a drum fill where the song builds back up from a "down" verse. Right now it sounds like the drummer hits something that is badly out-of-time. I may try to cut a piece of the organ track and slide it forward or backward until the clunk sounds like part of the fill. If that doesn't work, I'll start trying your solutions in order of lowest to highest $$$!

This forum is an amazing place. I've learned a ton from you guys-- my post count doesn't accurately reflect the number of hours I've spent reading your opinions and trying to learn this craft!

[the1Hub]

a second for the renovater. its a life saver sometimes

[toolskid]

post a clip of it if ya like?

[theblotted]

if drawing w/ pencil doesn't work, you can try copying a full-cycle waveform right before or after the clicked waveform, and paste it over.

remember to make selection @ zero-crossings.